[Shaun]

Right, I'm currently reading a crime novel about a man framed for the "perfect crime" and there was a bit about his lawyer advising him to plead guilty in order to make the sentence less harsh.

This got me thinking; since when did admitting you're guilty mean that the punishment should be any more lenient?

I mean, is there any real difference between a man brutally murdering someone and admitting it, and a man brutally murdering someone and not? Although both sentences in this case would be considerably long, there shouldn't, IMO, be any difference at all. Thoughts?